CHICAGO (WLS) -- Fall is home to the college football and NFL seasons and the Better Business Bureau is alerting fans about sports betting scams.
Here's how the scams work. You want to place a bet on an upcoming game so you search online for a sports betting service. You find a website or app that looks trustworthy and you place a bet. At first, everything seems normal, but as soon as you try to cash out your winnings, you find you can't withdraw a cent. Besides losing money, any personal information you shared is now in the hands of scam artists.
[Ads /]
To avoid sports betting scams follow these tips.
Look for an established, approved service that friends have used. Look for sites approved by your area's gaming commission. You can visit BBB.org to research companies.[Ads /]
Don't fall for tempting ads. Ignore gambling-related pop-up ads, email spam, or spam text messages. Read the fine print on incentives. Gambling sites and apps often offer incentives or bonuses to new users and around major games. But like any sales pitch, these can be deceptive. Be sure to read the fine print carefully.